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Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Neuroplasticity as potential direction for bibliotherapy

http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/books/robert-fulford-the-world-of-bibliotherapy
excerpt
The world of bibliotherapy contains many researchers, most of them
academics, searching for ways to develop it into a more effective
technique. A typical figure is Hoi F. Cheu, a professor in the English
department at Laurentian University. A student of literature with a bent
for unexpected themes (he wrote his PhD dissertation on Zen and the Art
of James Joyce), he now concentrates on bibliotherapy. He works with
several hospitals, including the Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto.
Cheu believes that recent explorations of neuroplasticity open new
directions for bibliotherapy. He quotes Norman Doidge’s book, The Brain
that Changes Itself, on “The Culturally Modified Brain.” As Cheu writes,
“We now have scientific observations to demonstrate that cultural
activities can change brain structures. After decades of cultural
construction theories, we can now reunite with the scientists to
investigate a biological approach to literature.”